1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic resonance apparatus having a radio frequency (RF) coil placed inside a gantry.
2. Description of the Related Art
A magnetic resonance apparatus generally has an RE coil such as a whole body (WB) coil placed inside a gantry.
An RF coil generates heat upon being energized. Conventionally, the cooling of the RF coil relies on natural convection around the coil, and no special cooling means is used.
Note that a structure for cooling an RE coil by using cooling water is known in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-244255.
The heat generated by an RF coil therefore raises the temperature in the imaging space in a gantry and may give an uncomfortable feeling to a subject to be examined who is placed in the imaging space.
An attempt has therefore been made to make it difficult to transmit the heat generated by an RF coil to an imaging space by placing a cover on the RF coil at a certain interval. In this case, however, the cover reduces the imaging space. This may give an oppressive feeling to the subject.
The structure known in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-244255 includes a cooling portion with a bulky structure, which requires a large accommodation space. This may reduce the imaging space and gives an oppressive feeling to a subject.